Traditional sales promotions such as discounting of prices may be utilized for virtual items to boost short-term profits associated with the virtual items, but may cause lingering long-term effects relating to profitability from the virtual items or perceived values of the virtual items by users. For example, direct discounting of virtual item prices may provide a temporary spike in sales, and then cause a longer period of decreased sales once the regular virtual item prices are restored. Sale of virtual containers that provide a chance to obtain a virtual item from a set of virtual items may be one technique that can be applied additionally or alternatively to traditional sales promotions to boost sales profits while avoiding or otherwise reducing the negative effects associated with traditional sales promotions. Typically, these virtual containers are offered on a one-time basis, and new virtual containers are created to replace previously offered virtual containers. However, because the new virtual containers may be unfamiliar to users, the users may be reluctant to purchase the new virtual containers, resulting in limited profits associated with sale of the new virtual containers. These and other drawbacks are contemplated.